Let's See Your House Projects!

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Yep, 3cm here as well. The 2cm look very "builder grade" to us. Plus we have a cantilevered section that hangs out over an eat in bar and we didn't want to have to load up the underside with support brackets.

I wonder if the granite installer created a crack when drilling into the top and the metal bolt expanding and contracting with heat over time just caused that crack to come to the surface and spread? Natural stone is a finicky thing!

The person who fixed the first crack told us that when there is a small section of granite (such as 2cm cut out to fit behind the sink), installers insert metal into the granite (I have no idea how) to support it. If they don't let it dry completely when installing, or leave another crack where water can get to it, it eventually corrodes and sits (wet) against the granite, leading to cracks in the granite.

We bought the granite in 2002 (along with everyone else at the time) - it was / is our first house and one of the first things we did to it. We wanted to replace the formica counters before we moved in. (It is a great house that had some crappy builder-grade finishing details and previous owners didn't really do any upgrades.) We got it from Home Design (or something like that), which Home Depot used to own but subsequently shut down. They subcontracted it out to ???? I had no idea there was 2mm vs. 3mm or that there was any potential for something to rust and crack the granite. Learn stuff along the way...

[MicaCeli]

Wow some fantastic transformations here. Some great Ideas that I am Totes stealing
I'll start detailing our current house and post some stuff from our old one.
So in 2014 we bought our Ellicott City, MD house and moved from Frederick MD where we ended up keeping the house and renting it out for 3 years because we bought it in 06 and wanted to get some money back from it
Here is the video of the Frederick house before it was sold last year, we did a bunch of work on it and best of all converted the car port to a 900sq foot garage:

Anyway onto the new house. Wanted something closer to in-laws and with better schools and walking paths. The garage is smaller though
Its from 1987, it has not changed much from 1987 but the floor plan was very good, location is fantastic and I would not have to tear any walls out so that was a bonus. So we get to make it what we want and not pay for someone elses idea of perfect house.
From the day we bought it:
Front

Back (yes that is a two story deck inclosure)

So the house had mostly hardwood floors (stained dark and looking a bit beat up) but the living and bedrooms were old dirty carpet so as soon as we closed we went over with my wife, ripped out all the carpet and had new hardwood put in and then the whole house sanded down and re stained/sealed.
Before:

During:





After:



Then came the master closet, since we had to rip everything out to do the floors AND EVERYTHING was painted with latex paint. Had to strip all the nasty paint off, patch all the huge holed and do a nicer base molding. The molding is smaller and thinner then what its going to be in the while house because I wanted as much space for shelves as I could get.
Before/During:


Afterish
New trim


Shelves in:


Its a Closet you get it
Next we moved on to the original roof and replaced with with 50 year shingles and new skylights.


You get it its a roof
Then the garage need love, always wanted sealed floors as I do all my own work. Wife likes Gulf colors, so it sorta looks like that. Cabinets are from inlaws old kitchen. Will paint cabinets at some point.



Interior stuff continued in next post

[MicaCeli]

So with the house being in a better shape and most of the big things done it was time to move inside and start updating it to make it look more modern. I love moldings, so we started with the half bath on the first level.
Before (disco disco)

During. This was ton of work for such a small space, I put in an new exhaust fan and had to run new wire for the light because the Hollywood light was in the middle of the room and center the water pipes because who ever put them in before was blind:



Now with all the technical stuff done it was time to go a bit overboard with moulding


DONE. Still need to touch up the floor but yeah its a bit different then before.

Onto the Dining room. Lots of stuff changed:
Before(booooorrririinng) although that light was kinda cool:

Durring:




DUN



Next to replace that central chandelier....I am NOT a fan of heights and this was NOT fun, but it turned out nice I think,
Before

After



Mostly it for now because...we had a kid and while awesome I have not had that much time to work on the house sadly.

[UncleWede]

Originally Posted by Kenny's X5

Not really a "project", but how hard is it to install a dishwasher? I have an existing one now and the youtube vids look easy. Is it as easy as it looks?

It is a BIATCH to get the new one's little feet adjusted just right so that it is level. No level, no water leave at the end of the cycle.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

The person who fixed the first crack told us that when there is a small section of granite (such as 2cm cut out to fit behind the sink), installers insert metal into the granite (I have no idea how) to support it. If they don't let it dry completely when installing, or leave another crack where water can get to it, it eventually corrodes and sits (wet) against the granite, leading to cracks in the granite.

We bought the granite in 2002 (along with everyone else at the time) - it was / is our first house and one of the first things we did to it. We wanted to replace the formica counters before we moved in. (It is a great house that had some crappy builder-grade finishing details and previous owners didn't really do any upgrades.) We got it from Home Design (or something like that), which Home Depot used to own but subsequently shut down. They subcontracted it out to ???? I had no idea there was 2mm vs. 3mm or that there was any potential for something to rust and crack the granite. Learn stuff along the way...

Oh yeah, Home Design. I remember those guys. Yeah, they did subcontract out to whomever was cheapest. I steer clear of the big box guys and whomever they round up for work. I tend to do everything myself but for something like countertops where the material investment is high and the install requires special tools or knowledge, I leave it to the pros. Same with carpet. I could probably figure it out but I dont want to be the one on the hook for telling my wife I just cut a $2,000 roll of carpet 2 inches too short.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by DETRoadster

Oh yeah, Home Design. I remember those guys. Yeah, they did subcontract out to whomever was cheapest. I steer clear of the big box guys and whomever they round up for work. I tend to do everything myself but for something like countertops where the material investment is high and the install requires special tools or knowledge, I leave it to the pros. Same with carpet. I could probably figure it out but I dont want to be the one on the hook for telling my wife I just cut a $2,000 roll of carpet 2 inches too short.

This time we went direct to a local shop who is a fabricator for Cambria and does a lot of work with granite and other natural stones, went direct to the tile distributor / retailer (Padron) and ordered fixtures from Build.com after seeing what we liked at Ferguson. We acted as contractor / coordinator among the various subcontractors we hired and paid directly. Better control over the process and cut out the money pissed away on middlemen who (in our experience) don't do shit to earn any markup over people actually doing the work. We looked at doing turnkey with bath remodel contractor specialists but we would have ended up spending more to get less than exactly what we wanted. I estimate that we saved about 15% - 20% by dealing with this project this way, not to mention being in better control and getting exactly what we wanted, including custom cabinetry. There were some bumps, including the need to fire the drywall / painting company, but we got through it. Wife is the good cop and I can be a demanding asshole bad cop when circumstances require it.

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

This time we went direct to a local shop who is a fabricator for Cambria and does a lot of work with granite and other natural stones, went direct to the tile distributor / retailer (Padron) and ordered fixtures from Build.com after seeing what we liked at Ferguson. We acted as contractor / coordinator among the various subcontractors we hired and paid directly. Better control over the process and cut out the money pissed away on middlemen who (in our experience) don't do shit to earn any markup over people actually doing the work. We looked at doing turnkey with bath remodel contractor specialists but we would have ended up spending more to get less than exactly what we wanted. I estimate that we saved about 15% - 20% by dealing with this project this way, not to mention being in better control and getting exactly what we wanted, including custom cabinetry. There were some bumps, including the need to fire the drywall / painting company, but we got through it. Wife is the good cop and I can be a demanding asshole bad cop when circumstances require it.

Truer words have not been spoken, sir!

[TXSTYLE]

2 Chandeliers installed to replace the originals. Our ceilings where these are: 18 and 24 feet for size perspective.

[Maestro]

Originally Posted by MicaCeli

So with the house being in a better shape and most of the big things done it was time to move inside and start updating it to make it look more modern. I love moldings, so we started with the half bath on the first level.
Before (disco disco)

Mostly it for now because...we had a kid and while awesome I have not had that much time to work on the house sadly.

Your inside of your house is about the same as mine, we just have the Master bath and kitchen to do, but you selected the same toilet and sink in the downstairs power room as we did, and you did the same thing as we did in our Dinning room, so it was interesting to see.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by MicaCeli

Mostly it for now because...we had a kid and while awesome I have not had that much time to work on the house sadly.

That is nice work. Suggest lower on art though. I am told (by wife) center of portraits / paintings should be 58" - 60" from floor. I disputed and looked it up. She was right.

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

That is nice work. Suggest lower on art though. I am told (by wife) center of portraits / paintings should be 58" - 60" from floor. I disputed and looked it up. She was right.

Agreed. Those frames should be maybe 8" or so above the wainscoting. They look too high in the pics posted.

[MicaCeli]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

Agreed. Those frames should be maybe 8" or so above the wainscoting. They look too high in the pics posted.

Looking at the pictures that I posted I think you guys are right. I might need to drop them down. Thnx

[DETRoadster]

Good Lord, it's finally done! My wife and I have been remodeling our kitchen since Christmas break. Here we are, exactly 4 months later and we finished it off last night.

The house is a 1965 mid century modern. Our goal was to update and modernize the kitchen while retaining some of the 1960s style. Updates include:

- Floor
- Refinished cabinets
- Quartz counter tops
- New appliances
- Gas for the range (old one was electric)
- Partially removed wall
- New sink
- Lighting
- Paint
- More outlets

We did all the work ourselves, with the exception of running the new gas line and the counter tops.

The original plan was to gut the cabinets and replace with new. My wife really wanted to sand down a door or two to see what was under the dark brown stain and years of abuse. I told her it was a waste of time. Turns out it was totally worth it. It's all bookmatched walnut! Score one point for her. We took the next month laboriously sanding down the doors, drawer fronts, face frames, and cabinet bodies. Everything got 3 coats of satin oil with sanding in between. Inside the cabinets were just basic plywood so we painted those.

Here's the Before / After. The "Before" pics that show the cabinets above the peninsula are super old. They are the photos from when we toured the house when it was on the market. Those upper cabinets came out about 5 years ago, so actually, this remodel has been a work in progress for 5 years. Ha!

Before 1


After 1


Before 2


After 2


Before 3


After 3


Before 4 (Floors are already updated in this shot)


After 4


Cabinets Before


Cabinets After


Floors Before


Floors After


Sink Before


Sink After


100 Year old reclaimed walnut slab


What Could Possibly Go Wrong?


Finally Done!

[wrickem]

DETRoadster

you've achieved your goal of keeping a 1960's feel, but updated into this century!

[DETRoadster]

Originally Posted by wrickem

DETRoadster

you've achieved your goal of keeping a 1960's feel, but updated into this century!

Thanks!

It was a labor of love to be sure. We actually investigated refurbishing the 1965 GE Americana range, which was super cool. The budget just wasnt allowing for it as it was pretty far gone. It needed some parts that are no longer available. Plus, I REALLY wanted gas burners.

The little details are what I like most. For example, I had a router bit and a shaper bit ground to match the base and shoe molding profiles so that I could recreate damaged sections of molding out of mahogany. The sunburst cabinet knobs are a fun touch as well. My wife fell in love with the Smeg toaster and kettle in pistachio green. The bar stools took a trip to Palm Springs to find! Lots of nods to the 1960s everywhere you look.

[awilki0101]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

sort of a house project...more like outside project but i finally received my new Husqvarna riding mower. last year i used a push mower and it took forever to do the lawn. This year i plan on going all out and getting my yard looking good and dominating my neighbors. eh, i must be getting old if that got me all excited but the soil is really compacted so i also ordered the aerator attachment. i already dethatched the yard last fall so hopefully all goes well

How well did the thatcher work? What type of grass? I have an acre of St Augustine but I'm afraid it's too tough for a pull behind like that

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by awilki0101

How well did the thatcher work? What type of grass? I have an acre of St Augustine but I'm afraid it's too tough for a pull behind like that

The dethatcher works great. I have Tall Fescue. I installed the mulching blades so hopefully this cuts down on detaching come Fall. I'm not sure how St Augustine will thatch since that grass is pretty thick and dense. I just did the aeration about 5 weeks ago and it worked like a charm

[ShopVac]

4th time doing my gameroom...shit never ends. Replaced the flooring on the TV side

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by ShopVac

4th time doing my gameroom...shit never ends. Replaced the flooring on the TV side

Looks good. Are those vinyl flooring planks?

[ShopVac]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Looks good. Are those vinyl flooring planks?

Yeah, full vinyl. Dogs where always coming in wet, the other flooring just couldn't hold up.

If this fails, I'll just tile the whole thing.

[lsturbointeg]

been working on the Master Bedroom and the Master Walk in closet! ripped out all the cheap wire racks and carpet and started laying down 1/2" Bamboo flooring with underlayment



Installed 3 Regissor glass cabinets and 2 Hemnes glass cabinets from IKEA


started building shelves on the opposite side for hanging clothes and my shoe shelves



added some sliding drawers as well from IKEA


Than started in the Master Bedroom. ripped out the old carpet and started laying out the underlayment


here's a closeup of the Distressed look Mushroom Bamboo flooring

[lsturbointeg]

crown moulding around the ceiling as well